The present invention pertains to antenna circuits, and more specifically, to an impedance matching circuit for a modulated backscatter diode-antenna combination particularly adapted for use in radio frequency identification systems.
Remote communication utilizing wireless equipment typically relies on radio frequency (RF) technology, which is employed in many industries. One application of RF technology is in locating, identifying, and tracking objects, such as animals, inventory, and vehicles.
RF identification (RFID) tag systems have been developed that facilitate monitoring of remote objects. As shown in FIG. 1, a basic RFID system 10 consists of three components, an antenna 12, a transceiver with decoder 14, and a transponder (commonly called an RF tag) 16 having its own antenna 24. In operation, the antenna 12 emits electromagnetic radio signals generated by the transceiver 14 to activate the tag 16. When the tag 16 is activated, data can be read from or written to the tag.
In some applications, the antenna 12 is a component of the transceiver and decoder 14 to become an interrogator (or reader) 18, which can be configured either as a hand held or a fixed-mount device. The interrogator 18 emits the radio signals 20 in a range from one inch to one hundred feet or more, depending upon its power output and the radio frequency used. When an RF tag 16 passes through the electromagnetic radio waves 20, the tag 16 detects the signal 20 and is activated. Data encoded in the tag 16 is then transmitted through reflection by a modulated data signal 22 through an antenna 24 in the tag 16 and to the interrogator 18 for subsequent processing.
An advantage of RFID systems is the non-contact, non-line-of-sight capability of the technology. Tags can be read through a variety of substances such as snow, fog, ice, paint, dirt, and other visually and environmentally challenging conditions where bar codes or other optically-read technologies would be useless. RF tags can also be read at remarkable speeds, in most cases responding in less than one hundred milliseconds.
There are three main categories of RFID tags. These are beam-powered passive tags, battery-powered semi-passive tags, and active tags. Each operates in fundamentally different ways.
The beam-powered RFID tag is often referred to as a passive device because it derives the energy needed for its operation from the radio frequency energy beamed at it. The tag rectifies the field and dynamically changes the reflective characteristics of the tag itself, creating a change in reflectivity that is seen at the interrogator. A battery-powered semi-passive RFID tag operates in a similar fashion, modulating its RF cross section in order to reflect a delta to the interrogator to develop a communication link. Here, the battery is the source of the tag""s operational power. Finally, in the active RFID tag, a transmitter is used to create its own radio frequency energy powered by the battery.
Conventional RF tag systems utilize continuous wave backscatter to communicate data from the tag 16 to the interrogator 18. More specifically, the interrogator 18 transmits a continuous-wave radio signal to the tag 16, which modulates the signal 20 using modulated backscattering wherein the electrical characteristics of the antenna 24 are altered by a modulating signal from the tag that reflects a modulated signal 22 back to the interrogator 18. The modulated signal 22 is encoded with information from the tag 16. The interrogator 18 then demodulates the modulated signal 22 and decodes the information.
Conventional continuous wave backscatter RF tag systems that utilizes passive (no battery) RF tags require adequate power from the signal 20 to power the internal circuitry in the tag 16 used to modulate the signal back to the interrogator 18. Efficient collection of this energy from the signal 20 is necessary to maximize system performance. Impedance matching of antenna circuit components at the desired frequency is one method to optimize efficiency. However, size and performance constraints of RFID tag systems render existing impedance matching designs unfeasible.
The disclosed embodiments of the present invention are directed to a diode matching antenna circuit that includes a diode detector circuit having a first terminal coupled to an antenna and a second terminal; and a stub circuit coupled to the second terminal of the diode detecting circuit, the stub circuit structured to match the impedance of the diode detector circuit in combination with the antenna to maximize the performance of the diode detector circuit.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a radio frequency identification tag is provided that includes a circuit for processing radio frequency identification signals in combination with an antenna circuit coupled to the processing circuit and configured from modulated backscatter, the antenna circuit having a diode detector circuit coupled to an antenna and to a stub circuit, the stub circuit configured to match the impedance of the diode detector circuit in combination with the antenna to maximize the performance of the diode detector circuit.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the stub circuit is structured to phase shift an output signal in relationship to an input signal. Ideally, the phase shift is about 180xc2x0 as detected at the interrogator.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the stub circuit is structured as a single conductor that functions as an antenna in combination with the diode detector circuit and first antenna. In an integrated form of the diode matching antenna circuit, the stub circuit would comprise a predetermined length and width of metallization.
As will be readily appreciated from the foregoing, the disclosed embodiments of the present invention provide antenna impedance matching for a passive RF tag system that extracts a greater supply voltage from a received signal to achieve enhanced performance, such as a greater transmission range. This increase in the communication distance enables use of passive RF tags for broader applications, such as tracking and identifying inventory in large warehouses, battlefield weaponry, and animals, without increasing the size and cost of such tags.